Rural drinking water safety under climate change: The importance of addressing physical, social, and environmental dimensions

Kohlitz, J; Chong, J; Willetts, J

Rural drinking water safety under climate change: The importance of addressing physical, social, and environmental dimensions

Kohlitz, J

Chong, J Willetts, J

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Publisher:: MDPI AG
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Resources, 2020, 9, (6), pp. 1-18
Issue Date:: 2020-06-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Kohlitz, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4265-1632
dc.contributor.author	Chong, J
dc.contributor.author	Willetts, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3975-9642
dc.date.accessioned	2021-03-30T01:33:56Z
dc.date.available	2021-03-30T01:33:56Z
dc.date.issued	2020-06-01
dc.identifier.citation	Resources, 2020, 9, (6), pp. 1-18
dc.identifier.issn	2079-9276
dc.identifier.issn	2079-9276
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/147645
dc.description.abstract	© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This paper explores the physical, social, and environmental dimensions of how climate change impacts affect drinking water safety in a rural context in developing countries. Climate impacts, such as contamination or the reduced availability of preferred drinking water sources due to climate-related hazards, threaten water safety in rural areas and these impacts will likely worsen as climate change accelerates. We qualitatively examined these impacts in a community in rural Vanuatu using three approaches side-by-side: adaptation, vulnerability, and resilience. We employed a mixed methods case study methodology that combined semi-structured interviews, technological and environmental surveys, and observations. We demonstrate the influence of physical infrastructure design, social structures mediating water access, and the availability of multiple sustainable water resources on water safety with respect to climate impacts. We also show how the initial problematization of how climate affects water safety can influence subsequent actions to address, or overlook, issues of infrastructure design and maintenance, social equity, and natural resource management for water access. Improvements to rural drinking water safety management in the context of climate change should take a pluralistic approach, informed by different conceptualizations of climate impacts, to account for the varied causal pathways of reduced water safety for different members of a community.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	MDPI AG
dc.relation.ispartof	Resources
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3390/resources9060077
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0502 Environmental Science and Management, 0907 Environmental Engineering
dc.title	Rural drinking water safety under climate change: The importance of addressing physical, social, and environmental dimensions
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	9
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management
utslib.for	0907 Environmental Engineering
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management
utslib.for	0907 Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-03-30T01:33:54Z
pubs.issue	6
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	9
utslib.citation.issue	6

Abstract:

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This paper explores the physical, social, and environmental dimensions of how climate change impacts affect drinking water safety in a rural context in developing countries. Climate impacts, such as contamination or the reduced availability of preferred drinking water sources due to climate-related hazards, threaten water safety in rural areas and these impacts will likely worsen as climate change accelerates. We qualitatively examined these impacts in a community in rural Vanuatu using three approaches side-by-side: adaptation, vulnerability, and resilience. We employed a mixed methods case study methodology that combined semi-structured interviews, technological and environmental surveys, and observations. We demonstrate the influence of physical infrastructure design, social structures mediating water access, and the availability of multiple sustainable water resources on water safety with respect to climate impacts. We also show how the initial problematization of how climate affects water safety can influence subsequent actions to address, or overlook, issues of infrastructure design and maintenance, social equity, and natural resource management for water access. Improvements to rural drinking water safety management in the context of climate change should take a pluralistic approach, informed by different conceptualizations of climate impacts, to account for the varied causal pathways of reduced water safety for different members of a community.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/147645